Figure 1.-- An important part of childhood is play. It can be outdoors and indoors and informal or formal. Here we see two American boys in the 1960s studying ants. Notice the jeans with the patched knee.

An important part of childhood is play. We see all kinds of outdoor and indoor play. Of course where the chold lived also as well as chronology affected the types of play. We see boys enjoying the outdoors alone or with friends. Boys enjoyed looking for insects or small animals or paddling in streams. There were a lot of such unorganized activities. We also note organized activities. Boys played many different outdoor games. There were party games that both boys and girls played. One favorite for everyday play with mixed groups was hide and go seek. Sand boxes were of course very popular for younger boys. On their own, boys were more likely to play war with different thems such as cowboys and Indians. As they got older sports began to replace games as favorite activities. A few exceptions were marbles, mummelepeg, and flipping baseball cards. Of course this varied over time. Modern boys are no longer allowed to have knives for mummeldepeg. And often marbles and flipping sports cards are discouraged as losers wind up unhappy. And a variety of conveyances, especially waggons, tricycles, and bicycles were very important for outdoor play. There were many other conveyances such as Irish mails, pedal cars, and scooters.

Concept

An important part of childhood is play. This has not always been recognized, but beginning in the Victorisn era parents began to increasingly see value in childhood play. A major factor here was social class. Well-to-do parents could indulge their children. The children of working-class parents might have to go to work at a very young age.

Activities

We see all kinds of outdoor and indoor play. We see boys enjoying the outdoors alone or with friends. Boys enjoyed looking for insects or small animals or paddling in streams. There were a lot of such unorganized activities. We also note organized activities. Boys played many different outdoor games. This was especially the case in cities where lots of friends were about. There were party games that both boys and girls played. One favorite for everyday play with mixed groups was hide and go seek. Sand boxes were of course very popular for younger boys. On their own, boys were more likely to play war with different thems such as cowboys and Indians. Other play may be less coherent or well organized in adult eyes. Here age was a factor. As they got older sports began to replace games as favorite outdoor activities. A few exceptions were marbles, mummelepeg, and flipping baseball cards. Of course this varied over time. Modern boys are no longer allowed to have knives for mummeldepeg. And often marbles and flipping sports cards are discouraged as losers wind up unhappy. Older children, especially boys, are most likely to gradually shift from childish ball games to sports. Inside children could play with a range of toys, depending on age. Younger boys had blocks, pull toys, tops, and a range of other toys. Older boys might play with toy soldiers. Lincoln Lohs, erector sets, and other toys. There were also all kind of board games.

Demographics

Of course play acivities were subsantially affected by the environment in which children grew up. This could be radically different, especially bewtween rural and urban areas. There were advantages and disadvantages to both. Rural children were surrounded by open places, trees, brooks, and streams and wildlife. There were opportunities to fish, hunt, and swim. The children might have encounters with wildlife cahd it was easy to keep pets, especially dogs. And of course there was plenty of fresh air. A downside was that they often lived some distance from playmates, although families were often large. Sports were more difficult to organize. Urban children might be lucky to see a tree. Some might live near a park. The paved streets and sidewalks offered play opportunities. And there were always lots of other neighbirhood kids to play with. The down side was the lack of greenery and fresh air. This was inspiration for the summer camp movement. And of course there were many environments in between such as small towns and suburbs

Chronology

Play activities have varied over time. Some play activities have continued over time. Many girls like to play with dolls in the 18th century and this is still true today. By the same token boys continue to like to play with guns or toy guns, although many mothers now discourage this. A major factor was the industrial revolution, driving both urbanization and the creation of wealth. With affluence came the modern childhood with more time to play. And at the same time, aditudes toward play began to change. Many parents in the 18th century saw play even for younger children as both a bad habit and wasteful. Parents un the Victorian period began to see play as a valuavle activity for children, if prperly oriented, helping to build important life skills and abilities. Wecsee a wide variety of play activities over time. Board games continue to be popular. New games are created, but some old favorites continue. Chess, checkers, and dominoes are old favorites. The same is true of cards. Of course technology affects play. Boys in the early 20th century made string telephones. This has been especially the case with the development of computers. Outdoor play also varied. Hide and seek is a continuing favorite, but many ring games popular in the 19th century have largely disappeared. Sports have varied over time. Popular games included marbles and mummelepeg. Of course this varied over time. And with the increasing popularity of sports as well as the development of lithography we begin to see collecting baseball cards as well as flipping cards and pennies. Modern boys are no longer allowed to have knives for mummeldepeg. And often marbles and flipping sports cards are discouraged as losers wind up unhappy. Modern parents are much more prone to intervene over such matters and to direct play.

Conveyences

A variety of conveyances, especially waggons, tricycles, and bicycles were very important for outdoor play. There were many other conveyances such as Irish mails, pedal cars, and scooters. We notice both bikes and trikes in the the United States during the late-19th century. A good example of an early trike is an unidentified boy in 1881. Many American children had bikes. I think this was primarily a factor of the greater affluence of American families. Bikes were less common transport for workers, in part because Henry Ford followed by other manufactuers built cars within the oproice range of the average woirker. Bikes were certainly items that were very popular with boys. Every boy wanted them. We believe that they were more common for boys, but especially after World War I, girls also had them. Styling seems to have been very similar in Europe and America. There are quite a number of bicycle and tricycle images loaded on HBC. Many of them are American images. I believe this reflects the general affluence of America and the fact thast mny children had bicycles and tricycles.

Created: 1:26 AM 3/6/2009
Last updated: 3:07 AM 8/23/2010